Office Automation

Office automation comprises the planned application of the integrated data handling of tools and ways to enhance the productivity of the people in the office operations. Even though managing data or information by office people is the aim of office automation, other features of the office are also affected. These comprises factors like the structure of the business functions and lines of training, reporting for new process, business units, work space design, locations of subsidiaries , hours of work, home versus office work, job classifications and employee morale. Organizations that control office automation products would have to deal with a lot more than just technological activities. Three major roles of an office identified by Laudon and Laudon (2002) are:

• Coordinate and manage the work of local professional and information workers within the organization.
• Link the work being performed across all levels and functions throughout the organization.
• Couple the organization with the external environment.

Generally, there are five major office activities that can be identified, including managing documents, scheduling individuals and groups, communicating with individuals and groups, managing data on individuals and groups, and managing projects. The computing and information technologies that support each activity should be identified and made available for all business units in planning for globalization.

Managing Documents - it comprises tasks such as storage, creation, dissemination and retrieval. The technologies supporting these tasks include desktop publishing, word processing, document imaging, work flow manager and Web publishing applications. Scheduling groups and individuals - the technologies which facilitate this activity include groupware, intranet and electronic calendars.

Communicating with groups and individuals -the tasks include receiving, , managing  and initiating data in the format of image, voice, text and digital. The supporting technologies may consist of voice mail, e-mail, groupware, intranets and digital answering systems.

Questionnaire:

•  What is Office automation?